The morning sun of June 13, 2018, filtered through the smog-tinted windows of the Lin family's apartment, casting long, dusty shadows across the breakfast table. For Lin Feng, the simple act of lifting a ceramic bowl was a miracle. Only forty-eight hours ago, his reality had been a prison of white linen, the smell of death, and the crushing weight of his own failing organs.
Now, he watched his father, Lin Changhe, sip lukewarm tea while scanning the morning newspaper. The man's hair was thick and black, his face devoid of the hollow, grief-stricken lines that would have eventually been carved there by his son's medical bills.
*'In the old life, this man worked himself into an early grave for me,'* Lin Feng thought, his heart tightening. *'He begged the Wang Family's site managers for extra shifts until his hands bled. Not this time. This time, I will be the one who provides the shade.'*
"Feng-er, you're staring at the wall again," his mother, Zhang Xiuqin, said as she placed a plate of hot buns on the table. "If you're still feeling weak, stay home. Your health is more important than one mock exam."
"I'm not weak, Mom," Lin Feng said, his voice steady and resonant. "I've never felt more alive."
He stood up, his movements fluid. He grabbed his school bag, but before he left, his eyes drifted to the newspaper on the table. A small headline at the bottom of the entertainment section caught his eye: *"Newcomer Zhao Lusi Joins Cast of Oh! My Emperor."*
The Archive in his mind sparked.
[Target: Zhao Lusi. Current Status: Filming in Hengdian. Contract: Level 4 'Star-Seed' Agreement with Galaxy Cool. Trap Level: Critical.]
A cold fire burned in his gut. She was already in the spider's web. He had to move faster. The Gates of Haidian High School
Haidian High School No. 1 was the academic battlefield of Beijing. Here, students were ranked like soldiers, and the *Gaokao* was the war that determined their entire destiny.
As Lin Feng walked through the gates, the familiar sights hit him—the frantic rustle of flashcards, the smell of old paper, and the hushed, desperate whispers of students cramming for the Mathematics Olympiad Mock Exam. In his previous life, Lin Feng had been the "invisible boy." His grades were mediocre, not because he lacked brains, but because his body lacked the oxygen to stay awake through a four-hour test.
"Look who it is," a sharp, mocking voice rang out.
Lin Feng stopped. Standing by the lockers was **Wang Zeyu**, a distant cousin of the main **Wang Family** line.
Even in high school, Zeyu carried the arrogance of the "Black Pillar." He wore a designer jacket that cost more than Lin Feng's apartment, and he was surrounded by a clique of students eager to curry favor with a future real estate heir.
"I heard you fainted in the hallway last week, Lin Feng," Zeyu sneered, stepping into his path. "Why even show up for the Olympiad? We all know people from your background are just here to fill the seats while the rest of us take the spots at Peking University."
In the old life, Lin Feng would have lowered his gaze. He would have felt the sting of humiliation.
But now, Lin Feng looked at Wang Zeyu as if he were an insect under a microscope.
**[Neural Archive: Target Item Scan—Wang Zeyu]**
**[Data Point: Recent Academic Fraud. Zeyu purchased the answers for today's mock exam from a corrupt janitor for 2,000 Yuan.]**
Lin Feng leaned in, his voice a low, dangerous whisper that only Zeyu could hear. "Is that so, Zeyu? I wonder... if the principal found out you paid 2,000 Yuan for the 'Version A' answer key, only to realize the school switched to 'Version B' this morning... would you still be talking about 'backgrounds'?"
Zeyu's face went from a smug tan to a sickly, ashen grey. His eyes widened in pure terror. "How... how could you..."
"I don't just see the world, Zeyu. I see the rot underneath it," Lin Feng said, stepping past him. "Don't get in my way again. You're not even a player on this board."
The classroom was silent, save for the scratching of pens and the ticking of the clock. The Mathematics Olympiad Mock Exam was designed to break the spirit of even the brightest students.
Lin Feng looked at the first page. Complex calculus, multi-variable probability, and abstract geometry.
*'Archive,'* he thought. *'Classroom Mode. Focus.'*
**[Neural Stability: 92%. Processing...]**
The world around him slowed. The numbers on the page didn't look like ink; they looked like living structures. The Archive didn't just give him the answers; it showed him the *logic* of the universe. His pen began to dance. He wasn't just solving equations; he was rewriting the narrative of his own life.
Forty minutes into a three-hour exam, Lin Feng stood up.
The sound of his chair scraping against the floor was like a gunshot in the quiet room. The proctor, a stern man named Teacher Zhang, looked up over his spectacles.
"Student Lin? Is there an issue?"
"I'm finished," Lin Feng said, placing the neatly filled papers on the desk.
"Finished?" Teacher Zhang scoffed. "This is the Olympiad level, Lin Feng. Even the top students in the province take at least two hours. Go back and check your work."
"I've checked it," Lin Feng said, his eyes clear and piercing. "Twice. Every solution is optimal."
As he walked out of the room, he could feel the eyes of his classmates on his back—shock, disbelief, and a new, burgeoning sense of awe. This was the first brick in his fortress. To protect Lusi, he needed to be "untouchable." A national-level genius scholar was a title that provided a public shield that even the **Li Family** (The Throne) would hesitate to tarnish.
**The Hidden Wealth: The Arcade Play**
After school, Lin Feng didn't go home. He headed to "The Dragon's Den," the arcade where the local "small-time" power players gathered.
He found **Zhao Qiang**, the bully he had confronted earlier, sitting by a gambling machine.
"The match ended," Zhao Qiang said, his voice trembling as he looked at Lin Feng. "Santos vs. Oeste. 1-1 draw. Just like you said. I won 6,000 Yuan."
Zhao Qiang pulled out a stack of bills and handed them to Lin Feng. "Here's your 1,000. How did you know? Was the match fixed?"
"The world is a sequence of patterns, Zhao Qiang," Lin Feng said, pocketing the money without looking at it. "I just read the patterns. Now, I have a new job for you. Your father works for **Wang Construction**, right?"
Zhao Qiang nodded slowly. "He's a supervisor."
"Good. I want you to tell him that there's a rumor about a structural flaw in the 'Blue Water' development project. Tell him to move his savings out of the company's internal investment fund before Thursday."
"Wait, that's my father's livelihood!"
"It's his survival," Lin Feng corrected. "Do it, and you'll owe me more than just money. You'll owe me your family's future."
**The Neural Toll and the Vision**
As Lin Feng walked away from the arcade, the "Price" finally came due.
A sudden, violent tremor shook his hands. His vision blurred, turning into a kaleidoscope of red and black. He collapsed into an alleyway, clutching his head as a scream died in his throat.
**[WARNING: Neural Stability at 68%. Neural Overheat Detected.]**
**[Physical Body: Stage 1 Synchronization. Warning: Human brain cannot sustain high-density future queries without rest.]**
He leaned against a brick wall, hot blood blooming from his nose, staining his school uniform.
*'I see...'* he thought, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
*'The Archive is a weapon, but my body is the handle. If I swing it too hard, I break myself.'*
He slumped against the wall, exhausted. In his mind's eye, a image appeared—not from the Archive, but from his memory.
Lusi.
He remembered her in the hospital bed of his previous life—not literally, but the image of her on his phone. He remembered her pale face and her hollow eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into the darkness of the alley. "I have to be a monster to save you. I have to be the best student, the best investor, and eventually, the most dangerous man in China. I'll take the pain. I'll take the blood. Just stay smiling, Lusi. I'm coming."
He stood up, wiped the blood with his sleeve, and straightened his school tie.
To the world, he was Lin Feng, the genius who had just aced the most difficult exam in the country. To the Hidden Families, he was a nobody.
But in the shadows of 2018, the "Ghost" was already building a legal and financial guillotine for every person who would ever try to hurt the girl he loved.